In this section, the findings of this study are presented. The interpretations are presented in accordance with the two research questions of 1) what the self-efficacy and attitudes of pre-school teachers and student teachers towards inclusive education were and 2) what the relationship between self-efficacy and the attitudes on inclusion were. Therefore, the study investigated firstly, the teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education; secondly, their self-efficacy levels, and the degree to which self-efficacies predict attitudes. In each research question, three tables are presented and interpreted in terms of teachers’ and student teachers’responses, and comparison of teachers and student teachers’ responses.

The first question What were the attitudes of teachers and student teachers towards inclusive education? was asked to the teachers and the student teachers. The teachers and the student teachers’ responses were presented in terms of twenty attitude statements and total attitude scores. Some statistical values are given about total attitudes of teachers and student teachers in Table 2 and 3.

Table 2

Pre-School Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Education

Score Range

N

SS

Min.

Max.

Total Score

Number of

Items

Positive attitude

f %

%

= 69-100

I totally disagree

(1) 20.00 - 36.00

I do not agree

(2) 36.01 - 52.00

I am undecided

(3) 52.01 - 68.00

I agree

(4) 68.01 - 84.00

I totally agree

(5) 84.01- 100.00

264

57.63

0.48

33

92

1521.00

20

15

5.3

When Table 2 is examined, total attitude scores of pre-school teachers towards inclusive education are 1521.00. The lowest and the highest are 33.00 (I totally disagree), and 92.00 (I totally agree) respectively. It is understood that among the teachers there are those who have totally positive attitudes as well as those who have totally negative attitudes. For example, the rate of teachers with a positive attitude was found to be merely 5.3 % among all teachers. When teachers’ scores are examined in terms of arithmetic means, the mean turns out to be (=57.63). When these values are compared with the scores taken from the scale, they reflect the attitude of I am undecided (3) and indicate that pre-school teachers remained undecided towards inclusive education. It was found that the teachers exhibit a neutral attitude towards the additional burden which are increasing difficulty of classroom interaction, normal and special educational needs students’ being effected positively or negatively, social benefits of inclusion, the teacher’s need to get additional training about inclusion, benefits of inclusion, possible behavioural problems and confusion. This can be interpreted, which is not sufficiently to be aware of the importance of inclusive education. They cannot perform the practices required with inclusion and they are not sufficiently trained about inclusive education. In addition, they do not hold negative attitudes towards inclusive education.

As indicated in Table 3, total attitude scores of the student teachers trained for pre-school education are 11869.00. The lowest and the highest are 31.00 (I totally disagree), and 95.00 (I totally agree). Although some student teachers and the teachers have positive attitudes some of those both groups have negative attitudes. As indicated in Table 3, that overall attitude score of the student teachers is (=59.94). When this value is interpreted in terms of the scores that can be obtained from the scale, it reflects the attitude of I am undecided (3) This further indicates that the student teachers are undecided towards inclusive education. In other words, student teachers exhibit a neutral attitude towards inclusion because they feel that when they have students with SEN in their classrooms they may have additional burden due to the fact that some have difficulties interacting with the students without SEN. The teachers also need to have additional training about effective inclusion, benefits of inclusion, possible behavioural problems reflected by the students in the classroom. This situation may reflect the

Table 3

Student Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Education

Score Range

N

SD

Min.

Max.

Total score

Number of items

Positive attitude

f

%

= 69-100

I totally disagree

(1) 20.00 36.00

I do not agree

(2) 36.01 - 52.00

I am undecided

(3) 52.01 - 68.00

I agree

(4) 68.01 - 84.00

I totally agree

(5) 84.01- 100.00

198

59.94

9.71

31

95

11869

20

24

11.6

student teachers who do not adequately appreciate the importance of inclusive education in terms of the behaviours they acquired during their education. It may equally be interpreted that they do not approach inclusive education negatively or that they are not impervious to it.

Table 4

A Comparison of the Attitudes of Teachers and Student Teachers towards Inclusive Education

Group

N

SD

t

p

Teacher

264

57.63

7.74

2.766

0.006

Student Teacher

198

59.94

9.71

As shown in Table 4, differences are obtained between the attitudes of pre-school teachers and student teachers towards inclusive education. Whereas teachers’ attitude mean score towards inclusion education was (=57.63), student teachers’ mean score was (=59.94). Despite the fact that the attitudes of both teachers and student teachers were indecision, student teachers’ attitudes were more favourable than the teachers’ attitudes (t=2.766, p<0.05). Although the teachers’ attitudes were undecided in comparison with the student teachers’ attitudes their scores reflect negative attitudes. The reason for this may be that student teachers’ emotions and ideas concerning inclusive education have been formed on the basis of theory even if they have some practical experiences. Therefore, it can be said that student teachers feel the importance of inclusive education more strongly and believe in its social relevance more than the teachers because they may be less aware of the difficulties of inclusive education in Turkish schools.

Self-Efficacy Perceptions of Teachers and Student Teachers

In the second research question of this study, the question asked of What are the self-efficacy perceptions of teachers and student teachers? In seeking answers to this question, teachers and student teachers were asked a total of 24 questions on guidance, teaching and classroom management and their perceptions of self-efficacy were determined. Some statistical values regarding the self-efficacy perceptions of teachers (Table 5) and student teachers (Table 6) are given below while Table 6 presents t-test results for a comparison of their self-efficacy perceptions.

In terms of arithmetic means concerning pre-school teachers’ self-efficacy perceptions, as shown in Table 5, their self-efficacy perception means are; (=7.37) for their efficacy in guiding students,( =7.49) for teaching, (=7.54) for classroom management and their overall self-efficacy perception mean is (=7.47). It can be said that not only do teachers have high self-efficacy in all sub dimensions but they also have high overall self-efficacy, which means that they consider themselves as being efficient. The number of teachers who do not consider themselves as being efficient does not reach 10% among all teachers. This can be intepreted that teachers’ self-confidence concerning their teaching is high. Teachers generally believe that they can answer students’ difficult questions in class, guiding students according to their individual differences, appropriate methods, techniques and strategies for effective education. These bring about desired behavioral changes, prevent undesirable situations that might arise in class, and set and enforce clasroom rules. The fact that teachers’ self-efficacy perceptions turned out to be high can be attributed to their pre-service education, their in-service training, their teaching experience and the length of service or it might be that they assess their self-efficacy according to the traditional view of education.

As indicated in Table 6, arithmetic means of student teachers’ self-efficacy perceptions are (=7.09) for guiding students, (=7.15) for teaching, (=7.14) for classroom management and (=7.13) for